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The choice for chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces renounced statements he made about rape in wartime and drafting female soldiers. Col. Eyal Karim, 59, was nominated Monday by the IDF’s chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot. On Tuesday, Karim was called for an interview with the IDF Personnel Directorate over statements…

TORONTO (JTA) — The leader of Canada’s Green Party is “torn” over two Israel-related resolutions to be debated at the party’s convention next month. One resolution to be reviewed by party members meeting in Ottawa in August would endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. The second calls on the party to pursue…

WASHINGTON (JTA) — An NGO did not use U.S. funds in its campaign to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Senate inquiry found, and the State Department did not violate policies by funding the NGO. However, the report issued Tuesday suggested the State Department did not adequately assess the risks of funding the NGO,…

(JTA) — Some 22 liberal groups, most of them Jewish, condemned a bill that would protect religious institutions that promote traditional marriage from government sanction. The First Amendment Defense Act would prevent any federal agency from denying a tax exemption, grant, contract, license, or certification to an individual, association, or business based on their belief…

JERUSALEM (JTA) — At least 50 people ascended the Temple Mount for a memorial with the family of slain West Bank teen Hallel Yaffa Ariel. It was the largest group of Jews permitted to visit the Temple Mount in the past year, according to Haaretz. About 200 supporters gathered afterward at the Western Wall plaza…

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Supreme Rabbinical Court in Israel wants to hear for the second time in a week from a woman whose conversion by a prominent U.S. rabbi was rejected. The court delivered a summons to the woman on Monday for a hearing Wednesday in her appeal of the rejection by the Petach Tikvah Rabbinical…